Merrymeeting Gleaners, which provides fresh produce for those experiencing food insecurity, has become a program of the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program.

The Merrymeeting Gleaners harvest and distribute surplus produce from farms and process local food for year-round distribution. It was launched by the Merrymeeting Food Council five years ago. It has, since 2016, gleaned 206,864 pounds of local food from more than 35 farms, and distributed to recipients in 17 communities.

“This is an exciting new opportunity for MCHPP and the entire community,” Hannah Chatalbash, deputy director of Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program, said. “MCHPP already invests significantly in partnerships with local farms, either by collecting unpurchased produce that they can no longer use, or by purchasing produce to help support the continued sustainability of the farm. Gleaning offers another link between our organization and the farm community that is so vital to reducing hunger in our area.”

“This program would not have been possible without the generosity of farmers, volunteers and funders,” Merrymeeting Food Council Coordinator Harriet Van Vleck said. “The relationships, trust, and community that have been nurtured over the past five years through the Merrymeeting Gleaners network are an essential piece of its success. The Merrymeeting Gleaners program is the type of collaborative solution to community level challenges in our food system that MFC’s network seeks to support. MCHPP was a core partner as the gleaning program developed and MFC looks forward to continued close collaboration with them, while also being able to focus on other developing partnerships and programs.”

According to the hunger prevention program, it saw a 10%-55% increase in use from 2019 to 2020. Gleaned produce will be used to stock the program’s grocery and meal distribution sites, which provide the community with more than 500,000 free meals annually.